LWC Welcomes Brightest Freshman Class in College History

COLUMBIA, Ky. -- Freshmen Hayley Helton and
Katarina Gimborys that they had packed everything for their room in
Lindsey Wilson College's Jerry and Kendrick McCandless Hall.

Then Helton realized she had overlooked shampoo and conditioner.
Gimborys found that the shower curtains in the new residence hall
were a little too short for her.

After a quick trip to the store, the two LWC freshmen were
settled in their room, the first LWC students to live in the
college's latest residence hall.

"It's a really nice dorm, we like it a lot," Gimborys said.
"We're excited to be living in it."

Helton and Gimborys were among more than 1,000 students who
moved into LWC's residence halls this week. Helton and Gimborys
moved in to McCandless Hall on Thursday because they are members of
the LWC cross country program. Most of their freshmen classmates
moved into residence hall rooms on Saturday morning and early
afternoon.

LWC officials will not know final enrollment numbers until later
next month, but they expect a record number of students to be
living in residence halls as well as an overall record enrollment.
LWC set records in both categories last school year with 1,052 and
2,554 students, respectively.

But college officials already know one thing -- this year's
freshman class is the most academically gifted class in LWC
history.

"The Class of 2015 has the highest ACT scores and the highest
(cumulative high school) GPA (grade point average) in the history
of this college," LWC President William T. Luckey Jr. said at a Saturday
afternoon welcome ceremony in the Doris and Bob Holloway Health
& Wellness Center. "So not only have we grown the campus
through all of the new programs and the new buildings, but more
importantly we are growing the quality of the students we choose
and that choose Lindsey Wilson College. You chose us and we chose
you to be part of this dynamic enterprise."

In the last two years, LWC has built an outdoor sports park, a
health-and-wellness center, a classroom building and two residence
halls.

"I don't know of any college in the country that is
accomplishing as much as what this staff has delivered in the last
24 months," said Luckey, who has been the college's eighth
president since July 1, 1998, told the freshmen. "Your college has
been on an amazing role."

Freshman Jennifer Miller of Ashland, Ky., said she is excited
about the prospects of studying in the new classroom building,
which houses LWC's baccalaureate nursing program and nationally
accredited School of Professional Counseling.

"I like the building a lot, it's just very exciting," said
Miller, who is a pre-nursing major this school year. "There's just
so much happening here right now."

Fellow freshman Billy Maraman of Lebanon Junction, Ky., said
LWC's exponential growth over the last two years is what attracted
him to the college.

"I love that it's growing," said Maraman, who plans to major in
Recreation, Tourism and Sports Management. "And I just want to be
part of something that's growing."